


Of Elves and Bows

by yaruna



Series: Of Years Gone By [2]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Legolas POV, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Young Legolas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:09:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4929907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaruna/pseuds/yaruna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wherein Legolas is 15, and sets out for an adventure.</p><p>Legolas POV</p><p>All parts of the series are stand-alone one-shots, though some may have references to previous happenings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Elves and Bows

**Author's Note:**

> Obviously, I do not own any of these characters, nor would I want to, as I could never do them justice.

 

I knew they had arrived in Mirkwood. I had seen them arriving from my room, so I had ran to my father to tell him, but he had been busy, so he had just waved me away. I wanted to see them, I had had so much fun the last time I had met them. They had shown me how to fight orcs! Although I doubted they were altogether happy about that fact.

I tried to hide my excitement when I walked, very quickly, to the gates where they would certainly ride through. As soon as I got there, I stood completely still, as I imagined my father would have, had he been there with me, and looked intensely at the gate.

I realized I had started moving my feet impatiently, and forced myself to stop. But then they came around the bend and I could not quite stop the grin that crept forward.

They all jumped off their horses, and lord Elrond took a step forward.

'Prince Legolas.' He said and gave a small bow.

'Lord Elrond.' I answered, quite gracefully if I could say so myself, but then I just could not do it anymore and flew forwards into his arms. He hugged me tightly, laughing merrily.

'I'm so glad you came!' I said and moved on to the twins whose hands I grabbed. 'Come, I will show you my tree!' They resisted only for a moment before I was able to pull them away from their father.

'Oh, sorry, lord Elrond. May I borrow your sons?' I turned to look over my shoulder, and saw Elrond's eyes full with mirth.

'You may. I shall go and find king Thranduil.'

'He's in his study. He was too busy for me, but maybe you have more luck.' I grinned, and took off at a run, not waiting for Elrond to reply.

'Legolas.' Elrohir said after a while and I stopped to look at him.

'Where are we going?'

'To my tree! I told you!'

'You did.' Elladan nodded thoughtfully. 'Though you neglected to tell us it was outside of the caverns.'

'That's trivial.' I said, feeling myself start to blush slightly. I had kind of tricked them, but I really wanted them to see my tree. 'It's not much further.'

They both gave a long-suffering sigh, but let me drag them along again.

'Here she is!' I said and held my arms out to highlight the most beautiful tree in the forest.

'She?' I heard Elladan mutter, but I ignored it, in favor of touching the leaves of my tree. She sent out waves of joy and welcome.

'I met her when we were going to Imladris.' I explained and climbed up onto the branch she held out for me.

'Legolas.' Elrohir said with a hint of both exasperation and amusement, but he climbed up after me, as did Elladan.

'She loves you very much.'

'She says she's my mother.' I chuckled, but felt a small displeasure coming from the tree. 'Well, second mother.' I grinned.

'Wood-elves.' Elladan rolled his eyes, thanked my tree for letting him climb her, and jumped down. 'It's about time to leave.'

'So soon?'

'We do realize you're not allowed here without anyone, little princeling.' Elrohir chuckled. 'But we truly do need to get some food.'

'Yes! I've been waiting for it the last week!  _Someone,_ ' he said, looking pointedly at his brother, 'lost our food. Curse your forest for not having anything to hunt!'

'Someone already  _did_  curse it.' I pouted. 'Father has told me of when it was called Greenwood.' I smiled, and joined Elladan and Elrohir on the ground, sending a small farewell to my tree.

'It was beautiful.' Elladan sighed, eyes looking into the distance.

'Do you remember it?' I asked, hoping to hear more, while we walked back towards the caverns.

'We do,' Elrohir said, 'though not as well as I am sure our fathers does. There were no huge spider webs.' He said, looking in disgust at the webs that span through large parts of Mirkwood.

'All trees were green.' Elladan added and I looked at the many poisoned trees in sadness. I touched a few of them and shivered at the cold and darkness that I could feel from them.

'I would have liked to see it.' I smiled, and moved away quickly when I felt Elladan put his knuckles on my head, about to rub my hair.

'Careful!' I growled. I had spent a  _lot_  of time fixing up that braid, and father had not even seen it yet!

'I am sorry, princeling.' Elladan chuckled. 'I did not realize you had become vain.'

I pouted, and carefully flattened the hair on my head.

'I am not!'

'No?' Elrohir grinned evilly. 'Then you don't mind us doing this?' He grabbed me around my chest, and lifted me up. I kicked, trying to get down, but had a hard time keeping from laughing. Then Elladan started to tickle me! I thought I would die. My stomach hurt so much from all the laughing. I think even Elrohir had trouble holding on to me due to all the twitching I was doing.

'Stop! Stop!' I cried between laughs.

'Yes, stop.' I heard, and all of us froze solid. Elrohir put me back on the ground and we all turned as one to see my father and lord Elrond looking at us. The icy eyes of my father looked at us disappointedly.

'Adar!' I said in surprise and bowed at the same time as trying to fix my hair. I heard Elladan and Elrohir chuckle beside me and I glared at them.

'Legolas, do get ready for dinner. You are dirty.' He said, and I looked up at him uncertainly. He had spat the words as though he was angry, but the small smile he had belied the serenity of them. So I gave him a wide grin and ran off to wash myself. I looked at my braid a long time before I sighed and unbraided it. I would get them for this!

...

Two days later I was bored. Elladan and Elrohir were with Elrond and the Mirkwood healers in the healing halls, teaching them some new techniques. I did not understand why all of them were needed.

So, I walked around without anything particular in mind, until I found the rooms the twins were staying in.

'Sorry for intruding.' I whispered before stepping inside. I knew I should not, of course, but I wanted to see their swords. And besides, I still had to pay them back for messing up my hair.

I should have known that there would be no swords to find. They always kept them on their person. But looking under their beds I found their bows. I chuckled a bit at both of them having hidden them at the same place, even though they were not in the same room.

I took them both, although they were very big for me. Being unstrung, they were probably almost as tall as the Elladan and Elrohir, but I knew I had someone that could help me string them.

So I snuck to the gates, and waited until the guards looked away to sneak through, and I ran to my tree. Well, she is very much her own, but I like calling her mine. It's like saying my father, or my mother.

' _I'm back!'_ I grinned and got a wave in welcome, but also it was slightly hesitant.

' _You're alone, penneth.'_  She said, displeased.

' _Not for long._ ' I chuckled. I never was, someone always came for me. ' _I need your help.'_

' _What can I do for you?'_  I heard amusement.

' _Could you press together this stick?'_

' _I could, penneth. But I would not.'_

' _Why not?'_  I pouted.

' _For it is a weapon, penneth. You are much too young.'_

' _But…'_  I pouted and stroked my hand against the wooden bow, and jumped in surprise as I felt it shiver. Could it be? Could it still be alive?

' _Hello.'_ I tried, stroking it again. It was but a little, but I felt it send a small wave of acknowledgement.

' _Would you help me? Would you bend to your most powerful form?'_ I asked, and I felt it struggle a bit, it wanted to, but it had been slumbering for so long, so I thought to give it some rest as I spoke similarly to the other bow. When I had asked it also, I was able to attach the string properly on the other end of the first.

' _Penneth,'_  my tree said in reproach, ' _what are you doing?'_

' _I'm being Elladan!'_  I chuckled as I strung the other bow as well. I took the first one, Elladan's bow, and jumped into the tree, and pretended to be shooting at orcs. Then I jumped down and took Elrohir's bow instead as I ran lightly across the spider webs. I heard every tree I passed call out to me, but I kept going. I shot at imaginary orc after orc, hitting them all.

' _Legolas! You come back NOW!'_  I heard a loud voice in my head and I froze. She had never done  _that_  before. She had only ever spoken to me when I touched her. Actually, my father had always told me that was the only way for trees to actually speak to us.

But I skipped back across the webs, just a bit slower than I had gone, appropriately bashful.

' _You take those bows, and go home to your father.'_  She said when I was back with her.

' _I'm sorry.'_  I muttered in my mind. I looked on my feet.

' _It's all right, penneth, but you will make him worry if you stay away any longer.'_

So I took both bows and began walking back normally, kicking small rocks as I went. I had had  _fun_. It was going to be boring back at the caverns. I was so engrossed in my own thoughts that I did not even hear when it came, and only looked up when a loud hiss pierced through my ears.

There was a large spider, even larger than I had heard. Father always said they were at least as high as his waist, but I would bet anything this would reach his head.

It jumped towards me and I got my senses back together and started running, keeping great care to hold on to the bows. It would not do if I lost them. I was faster than the spider, and I would have outrun it, had not another blocked the way.

I looked around in panic. Suddenly there were spiders  _everywhere_. I would not be able to get away in the trees!'

'ADA!' I cried then, and started hitting around myself with the bows wildly. 'Don't come closer, stupid spiders!' I shouted, and I thought I heard the spiders laugh. Then one spider bit onto Elladan's bow and I screamed at it, hitting it on the leg with Elrohir's. It just hissed at me and stepped onto the bow. I felt so sorry for them. But then I kind of forgot about the bows, because the spider leaned down and put its head level with mine, staring into my eyes. I backed up until I came in contact with one of the poisoned trees, and I knew I would find no rescue there. I turned my head away and clenched my eyes shut as the spider opened its jaws.

 _Thwack_. I heard then, and something large fell to the ground. After I had not been bitten in what I thought to be a reasonable time, I opened my eyes again, and saw the spider lying dead before my feet. Looking a bit farther, I saw my father with his sword. He was shining brightly as he fought the foul beasts, and I was deeply impressed. He was even better than Elladan and Elrohir. He had been right, also. The spiders only reached to his waist, and I thought I saw my father grow before my eyes.

Other elves were fighting as well, but none was as elegant and rapid as my father. When the spiders were all gone, my father walked up towards me angrily.

'Are you hurt?' He asked, coldly, and I shook my head, cowed.

'Good! We go home!' He said and I started to follow him before I remembered the bows. I could not leave them there, so I bent to pick them up.

'Legolas! Now!' my father called loudly, and I leaned my head down a little as I followed him, bows now in hand.

When we came back to the caverns, Elladan, Elrohir and Elrond stood waiting for us, obviously worried.

'Elrond, please look him over, he says he is fine, but I want to be safe.' The king said lowly to the lord.

'Of course, old friend.' Elrond smiled.

'Legolas, you are confined to your rooms for a week!' the king said, turned to me. His icy eyes were truly filled with anger this time.

'Yes, my lord.' I whispered, and gave a small bow as he left with the patrol he had gone out to save me with.

'Come on, Legolas.' Elrond said then, and I followed him to my rooms. I heard Elladan and Elrohir walk behind us.

'Those are our bows, are they not?' Elladan whispered.

'They are. And they are strung. I'm pretty sure I left mine unstrung.'

'As am I.'

'There is something weird with that elfling.' Elrohir said suspiciously, and I hung my head further.

We arrived in my rooms and I handed the bows back to the twins with an apologetic look.

'I'm sorry for taking your bows. I just wanted to be like you.' I muttered, as they took their bows. They flinched when they closed their hands around the wood and almost dropped them.

'What did you do?' Elladan asked, with wide eyes, and I felt my lip tremble. He was angry. I had destroyed his bow.

'It's…  _alive_.' Elrohir muttered as he turned the bow to gaze at it from all angles, amazed, and I became confused. Amazed and angry did not match. Did they?

'If you are going to cause such ruckus, please leave me and Legolas alone.' Elrond said, giving the twins a curious look as they left.

'That spawn of the dark  _awakened_  our bows?' I heard Elladan mumble to his brother and I sighed, but then heard the unmistakable sound of a hand hitting flesh. No doubt it was Elrohir hitting Elladan.

'I've  _told_  you, he's no such thing.' He defended me, and their glittering laughter ran through the corridor, into my room. Elrond just shook his head, before he turned to me.

'Now then, where are you hurt?'

I denied it loudly, but he still had to poke and prod me before he declared me just fine, with only a few bruises.

'Why did you do that, Legolas?'

'I… was playing.'

'Playing? In the woods your father has forbidden you to traverse alone?' He said and I looked down. I did not have to respond to that. He knew that.

'I wanted to be Elladan and Elrohir. They are so brave! And my father! You should have seen him! He was even better than Elladan and Elrohir!' I said, slowly at first, but building up speed as I became more excited. But then I stopped, thinking about his look.

'But he was so angry.' I sighed.

'He was frightened, Legolas.' Elrond said and I looked into his eyes. He held my gaze for a long while, telling me that he was not lying. Then again, elves can't really lie, so I should not have needed the reassurance. So I finally nodded.

'Rest well, little one.' Elrond smiled and left me alone.

I lay down on my bed and snuggled my blanket close to me, but let it go again. I did not need it. My father would always protect me; he was my hero. I smiled as I fell into a calm rest.


End file.
